आलोचक समीक्षाएं

Nobody is more violent lark than probing satire, but between Bob Odenkirk’s smartly underplayed performance, the surprises in the screenplay by Derek Kolstad (the “John Wick” series) and the puckishly brutal direction of Ilya Naishuller (“Hardcore Henry”), it’s a wonderfully paced and consistently clever action movie that ups the ante of a genre that’s been dominated by Liam Neeson clones.

There may be nothing new to Nobody. But Odenkirk & Crew make sure that this mass production action movie has plenty of bespoke fun stitched in.

But Nobody uses its boundaries as an asset. This giddy approach to action in place of story has held appeal ever since Wiley E. Coyote chased the Road Runner off a cliff, and Nobody lingers in a ludicrous plane that works in bite-sized pieces.

Odenkirk’s ability to juggle both sides of what it means to protect his loved ones does help alleviate a lot. Casting him at all in a role like this alleviates even more because it allows us to wrestle with preconceptions and enjoy the idea that you don’t have to be as big as Daniel Bernhardt’s “Bus Goon” to wreak havoc.

Make no mistake, this is pure caveman bullshit. Yet it’s caveman bullshit made with style and wit, qualities that extend from its screenplay to its performances to its staging.

Nobody fails to break a bunch of new ground transforming another normal guy into a murder machine although Odenkirk's presence does give the film a conflicted and darkly comic center. Let's hope more machine-gun antics are in his future.

Nobody is a thoroughly over-the-top and, at times, loony-tunes entry in the live-and-let-die vengeance-is-mine genre. Is it a good movie? Not exactly. But its 90 minutes fly by, and it’s a canny vehicle for Odenkirk, the unlikeliest star of a righteous macho bloodbath since Dustin Hoffman got his bear trap on in “Straw Dogs.”

It’s all insanely violent and gleefully silly. Stab wounds and bullet holes just don’t slow some people down the way you think they might. Through it all the best part of the film remains the dichotomy of a bland wimp (a character Odenkirk plays so well) who can flip the switch to becoming a remorseless killer — and seeing Odenkirk as the one flipping the switch.

Instead of being the next John Wick, Nobody plays out more as John Wick lite, which could be disappointing for some. It's fun to see Odenkirk try something new at this stage in his career, and Nobody clearly knows what it is and never takes itself too seriously (see: the moments of levity, the soundtrack full of licensed classics). Still, these merits don't truly help elevate the final product beyond fleeting entertainment.

The film offers chaos by the yard with no real stakes or emotional reverberations.